Some Bonds Will Never Break
by Stelra Etnae
Summary: "The word family doesn't have just one meaning. We're not acquaintances, we're not friends... we're family!" A collection of Straw Hat nakamaship drabbles! No romantic pairings. 5 - The food was going bad, that's why he had to use it. That was what he insisted. But they all knew better.
1. Melody of the Soul

_**A collection of Nakamaship drabbles. Updates will be made randomly, when inspiration strikes.**_

_**First up: Brook, with a good dose of Sabaody/timeskip feels.**_

_**For better understanding of this drabble, there is a list of the Italian tempo markings that were used at the bottom of this page.**_

_**Hope you like it!**_

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**Melody of the Soul**

**Prompt: Resonance (written for onepiece_300)**

Bony fingers gently picked up the slim bow, sweeping it lightly over the strings of the violin.

_**x**_

_**Tenerezza**_

Luffy and Chopper rolling around on the deck. Usopp and Franky fiddling with their newest invention. Robin sitting in her chair reading. Sanji cooking in the galley. Zoro training in the crow's nest. Nami strolling through the mikan grove.

And once in a while, they would notice him watching them, meet his eyes (though he didn't have eyes, Yohohoho…) and smile.

_**x**_

_**Agitato**_

Zoro… gone.

Sanji and Usopp… gone?

No. Not if he had any say in it. He wasn't going to lose his nakama again.

Throws himself in the enemy's way. Fearless? No, there was fear. Fear of losing his nakama.

"I will protect you! Even if it costs me my own life! Oh wait, I'm already-"

_**x**_

_**Morendo**_

"…dead."

Alone. Again.

_**x**_

_**Mesto**_

Luffy, scarred in both body and heart. The crew, not there.

3D2Y

It hurt to not be by his side, but what was their hurt compared to his?

So they would wait, ignore the hurt and train to become stronger.

For him.

_**x**_

_**Lacrimoso**_

All alone. Surrounded by people, yet still alone. Because they didn't understand him, not truly. Not like _they_ did.

2 years.

What was 2 years, compared to the 88 that he had already lived? It should be gone in a blink of an eye, right?

A new dawn. 1 year and 364 days to go.

_**x**_

_**Brillante**_

He could see them. Finally, after two long years, he could see them.

Thousand Sunny.

Usopp-san.

Nami-san.

Robin-san.

Franky-san.

Chopper-san.

Sanji-san.

Zoro-san.

Luffy-san.

_**x**_

_**Trionfante**_

He was home.

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Glossary of Italian tempo markings (mood markings with a tempo connotation)

_Tenerezza_ – tenderness

_Agitato_ – agitated, with implied quickness

_Morendo_ – dying away  
_Mesto_ – sad, mournful

_Lacrimoso_ – tearfully, sadly

_Brilliante_ – sparkling, glittering

_Trionfante_ – triumphantly

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**_Do leave a review! I greatly appreciate it. :)_**

**_Stay tuned for more! Next: Robin and Enies Lobby feels_**


	2. Ink on Paper

_**Thank you to all you kind people who left reviews!**_

_**As promised, Robin and Enies Lobby feels. Enjoy!**_

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**Ink on Paper**

**Prompt: Black & White (again, written for onepiece_300)**

Words, printed in black ink on white paper. Fundamentally, that was what books were.

Stories were black and white. Not real. Safe.

And so she immersed herself in them, to hide from the harsh reality of the world. She retreated from color, reached for the monotonous repetition of black and white. Because she feared that if she let go of the monotony, she would encounter the color she feared the most – the red of Ohara.

Until him.

Without warning, he stepped into her black and white world, a vibrant presence unlike any other. He taught her that red wasn't a color to be feared, but to be loved.

His hair and eyes were black, like hers. But unlike her, nothing else was. His vest was red, his shorts were blue. He covered that black hair with a hat of straw, brightened further with a red ribbon. His smile was white, yet reflected every color of the rainbow. He was full of color. Full of life.

Unlike her.

But then, on that windy rooftop on that fateful day…

"_SAY THAT YOU WANNA LIVE!"_

The black and white wall that she had built around herself… was touched by a bright splash of color.

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_**Hope you liked it! Please review!**_


	3. Defining Abnormality

_**Next up, Chopper! Enjoy!**_

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**Defining Abnomality**

**Prompt: special (onepiece_300)**

He had always been different.

His nose was blue, unlike other reindeers'. They had teased him, whispered behind his back and shunned him. He used to wish that he would wake up one day and be the same as everyone else. But it didn't happen. Couldn't.

Then he had eaten a Devil Fruit that gave him the abilities of humans. The next day, he had wandered closer to the human dwellings, hoping to find the acceptance that he couldn't find among his own kind. Two little human children were the first to see him. They screamed, called him a monster, and ran back to the human dwelling.

He told himself that this was nothing. He was used to it. So he shouldn't be sad, he should have expected the rejection.

His traitorous heart said otherwise.

Now, among the people – these humans – that he called nakama, he was still different. That fact would never change.

But something else had.

He had asked Luffy once whether the captain ever wished that he wasn't rubber, that he was just normal. Luffy had laughed in that carefree way of his and gave him a simple, oh-so-very Luffy answer.

Luffy didn't want to be "normal". Luffy wanted to be rubber, because it made him _special_.

Chopper had taken that word, flipped it over in his mind, dissected it, put it back together. It wasn't a new word to Chopper, yet it felt so foreign. Late that night in the men's quarters when everyone else was asleep, he quietly tested it on his tongue. A certain rubber captain watched from the bunk above as his reindeer doctor finally fell asleep with a smile on his face.

Chopper was different, had always been, will always be. But now he was something else as well.

He was special.

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**_Hope you liked it, and don't forget to leave a review! :)_**


	4. To Protect What Is Precious

_**It has been a long time, hasn't it? Well, here's another drabble, this time one that was spontaneously written rather than based off a prompt. I've been meaning to write something featuring Sanji (he's my favourite OP character, after all) but never got around to doing it until now. Hope you like it, and do leave a review after reading! :)**_

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**To Protect What Is Precious**

Sanji would never hurt a woman, they all knew that. They had seen, far too many times, how he would refuse to fight and just silently take the attacks, even if it threatened his life. They were reminded of it every day, when the cook would offer refreshments regularly to the ladies, ignoring the men, and allow himself to be manipulated by Nami without a care.

Zoro called it sickening, Luffy just laughed, and everyone simply accepted it as Sanji being Sanji. No one expected him to act any different; no one thought he ever would.

But one day, when the swordswoman of an enemy crew held a blade threateningly to Usopp's throat, drawing blood, it was not a sword that came to deflect it, nor a rubbery arm from across the deck, nor even a pair of disembodied arms that saved him, but a polished black shoe that flew out of nowhere to send the weapon skidding across the deck and its owner after it.

As he gaped up at his savior, blood still trickling from the shallow cut on his neck, he saw teeth clamped tightly over the cigarette held between them. The cook lounged as usual with his hands in his pockets, but for the first time Usopp was actually close enough to see the tense lines that marred that form.

It was then that he, and indeed all of them who witnessed it, became sure of one very important thing. That for Sanji, just like for every single one of them, no matter what else they viewed as important and precious, one fact prevailed.

Nakama always came first.


	5. Going Bad

_**I originally didn't want to post two Sanji-centric chapters together, but it's been a long time and I haven't had much inspiration for this collection.**_

_**So, for now, enjoy this new drabble!**_

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**Going Bad**

**Prompt: Persnickety**

Two things were obvious about Sanji. First was that he showered the ladies with affection but ignored the "shit-heads". Second was that he was very, very picky about the ingredients he used.

A third fact, less apparent, was that he had a rather creative way of dealing with "ingredients that had been taken out anyway and would go bad if not used". Or at least that was what he called it.

Sugar, after being added to two cups of hot chocolate, would also somehow find its way into the cotton candy machine. Whenever two glasses of iced tea were presented on the deck, a cup of hot milk tea could be found in the galley. Often, Luffy would noisily demand for snacks, and the cook would grumpily stomp back into the galley with complaints on his lips, emerging five minutes later with an array of tidbits that definitely needed more than five minutes to prepare. Leftovers, he would say dismissively.

Luffy didn't even know the meaning of the word.

And today…

"Oi, idiot marimo."

Zoro opened his eyes at the call and his hand instinctively snapped up to catch the bottle before it hit his face.

"What's this, shit-cook?"

Sanji rolled his eyes. "Plum wine. I thought that your puny brain would recognize alcohol, if nothing else."

The swordsman snorted. "Of course I know that it's wine. Why are you giving it to me?"

The cook had already turned on his heel to return to the galley, and simply threw back a nonchalant reply, "It's going bad but still too good to waste. Anyway a moss-head like you won't know the difference."

Once the door had been shut behind his crewmate, Zoro took a swig from the bottle and smirked knowingly.

Going bad, my foot.

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**_Please review!_**


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